Seabirds Fly High Along the Nāpali Coast & Lehua Crater

Kauaʻi is home to some seriously beautiful birds, providing endless viewing opportunities for avid bird enthusiasts and amateur spectators. From vibrant endemic forest birds to mighty migratory seabirds, Kauaʻi has it all.

Today, we look at Kauaʻi’s seabirds and the landscapes where they thrive. It’s time to sit back, relax, and journey with us (for real, though, book a ticket aboard) as we swoop in and fly with Kauaʻi’s native seabirds along the majestic Nāpali Coast and over to the uninhabited Lehua Crater.

The Nāpali Coast

Sometimes, as we look at our “office” aboard Holo Holo, we have to pinch ourselves. The view is out of this world and never, ever gets old.

Join us as we explore the Nāpali Coast with 4,000-foot towering cliffs, rocky inlets carved by rain and ocean waters, steep waterfalls, lush valleys, and an ancient, sacred history seeped in Hawaiian culture, tradition, values, and stewardship. If you’ve been, you know precisely the kind of beauty we are referring to, though we invite you to join us again as no two days are alike. And if you’ve never been, put this at the top of your bucket list!

Lehua Crater

Our signature tour, “The Niʻihau + Nāpali Super Tour,” first travels along the infamously carved and colorful Nāpali Coast and then to the fringes of Niʻihau and the Lehua Crater, a protected seabird sanctuary. This seven-hour tour is the real deal with all the bells and whistles.

Lehua Crater is a rocky, crescent-moon-shaped island roughly 18 miles west of Kauaʻi, as the crow flies (no, the crow does not fly here), and 0.7 miles north of Niʻihau. (1) The Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources manages the 284-acre island, which is federally owned by the U.S. Coast Guard. (2)

Lehua Crater is a place of significant ecological importance to Hawaiʻi’s native seabird colonies who inhabit the island, nest, and lay their eggs there. (3) It is also a place of active environmental restoration, and the only people allowed on the island are those who are a part of the ecological efforts.

Rabbits, rats, and invasive foreign plants ravaged the island into the late 1900s, threatening to destroy the seabird population and indigenous plants once thriving there. In the early 2000s, private, state, and federal groups organized a plan to save Lehua Crater, protect the seabirds’ habitat, and restore endemic plant life. Through strategic and targeted efforts, data tracking, analysis, and monitoring, Lehua Crater has been rabbit-free since 2006 and rat-free since December 2018. (4)

Now safe from rat predation, the seabird population is growing and flourishing on Lehua Crater. The island is a perfect spot for seabirds with its high elevation and abundant rocky perches. Current plans are underway for expanded work on Lehua, including plant restoration and biosecurity to attract more seabirds, including endangered birds not currently nesting on Lehua, such as Hawaiian petrels and Band-rumped storm petrels. It is projected that as climate change continues to impact our natural world, more and more seabirds will make their home here. (5)

Seabirds You’ll Spy Aboard Holo Holo

Watch for these beauties skimming the ocean’s surface, riding the salty waves, soaring through the sky, perched on Lehua Crater, and nestled in the cracks of the Nāpali Coastline: Newell’s shearwater, Wedge-tailed shearwaters, Brown boobies, Red-footed boobies, Albatross, Red-tailed tropicbirds, and more. (6) For a complete list of the seabirds and migratory birds you’ll spy aboard Holo Holo Charters, check out the seabirds and migratory bird section in our Endemic Birds of Hawaiʻi Blog.

Welcome Aboard

We at Holo Holo Charters love what we do. We feel incredibly blessed to tour the pristine Nāpali Coast and flourishing Lehua Crater. Here, natural beauty abounds in some of the most breathtaking places on Earth, native seabird populations are plentiful and healthy, and ecological restoration is alive and well!

We look forward to sharing these unforgettable sights with you, our valued guests, and can’t wait to welcome you aboard! A hui hou.

(1): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehua

(2, 3): https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wildlife/lehua/

(4-6): https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/226e0c1310f84450a1dec26061c710d4

Content Creation by Jessica Stein